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Palestinian children have described how they were systematically beaten and tortured while in Israeli custody by soldiers, according to testimonies in front of the Prisoners’ Affairs Commission.

The Commission’s attorney, Higa Ighbarieh, documented the accounts of three children regarding treatment during their arrest and subsequent detention in the Megiddo Prison:

Fahd Qeisieh, 17, from the Issawiyeh neighborhood in East Jerusalem, was arrested and beaten during clashes with Israeli forces in his neighborhood. The teenager said a policeman tackled him and dragged him to his car where another policeman stamped on his back and kept him on the ground. Two other officers then beat him. The brutality continued when the boy was taken to the Russian compound interrogation center where he was hit with a stick on his face, back, legs and hands, and forced to kneel and confess to charges against him

Munir Dari, 16, also from Issawiyeh neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem recalled being detained in his neighbourhood and assaulted by several members of the Israeli security forces. The boy was beaten all over his body, and also subjected to further beating and verbal abuse at the Russian Compound detention center in West Jerusalem in order to coerce him to confess to the charges against him.

Firas Masri, 17, was arrested at an army checkpoint near Qalqilya and beaten by several soldiers. The teenager said he was thrown onto ground covered with gravel, beaten around his head and back, and verbally abused. He was then blindfolded, handcuffed, and dragged along the ground over a long distance before being thrown into an army jeep and taken to a police station in the Ariel settlement.

Palestinian children are routinely brutalized when arrested by Israeli security forces.

In February, The Palestinian Prisoners club said that 60% of children arrested by Israeli occupation forces were exposed to psychological, physical and verbal torture.

Testimonies from children imprisoned revealed how they were subjected to food and sleep deprivation as well as physical threats and beatings in order to extract confessions under duress.

There are currently more than 6,500 Palestinians being held in Israeli occupation jails, including 350 children, of whom eight are girls.